The present invention relates to devices used to hold and maintain the structure of yarn packages during textile manufacturing processes. More specifically, the present invention includes an apparatus used to hold a yarn package in place while preventing the yarn from becoming unraveled or entangled as the yarn is being unwound for a textile manufacturing process.
One problem associated with textile manufacturing is that the yarn, as it is being fed into textile machinery such as a loom, loses tension or slackens occasionally, and becomes partially unraveled from the package. When such unraveling occurs, it is not uncommon for the yarn to catch, either by hanging up on the rear portion of the yarn package itself, or by hanging up on the creel, mandrel or another component of the textile machinery, often causing the yarn to break. When an industrial loom is running, and running yarns that are fed from hundreds of yarn packages, this unraveling problem must be addressed by halting the entire operation and reattaching (or tying) the broken strand of yarn back together.
Heretofore, other devices have been employed to hold yarn packages in place and prevent it from unraveling. U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,062 is directed to a thread-tensioning and balloon control for unwinding yarn from packages on textile machines, and includes a circular, supporting, rim-like means that is positioned about the package unwinding end. It is provided internally with a plurality of pivoted, spring loaded tensioning members spaced circumferentially around the supporting rim to inhibit the ballooning tendencies of the yarn being drawn from the package.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,909,913 discloses a device for controlling the wildness of yarn during delivery to a web forming machine, wherein the device comprises a frame that includes a couple of collars attached to support members. The collars are adjustable along the supports, and have a knitted tube disposed between the collars. The device is secured around the yarn package and adjusted so that the knitted tube comes into slight contact with the yarn package as the yarn is being delivered from the package.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,866 is directed to a yarn unwinding tension stabilizer, which includes a circular frame having a series of elastic wiring materials concavely curved towards the center and overlapping one another. The frame is placed about a yarn package, and the wiring materials come into contact with the yarn surface in order to stabilize and provide tension to the yarn. All of the references cited above are incorporated herein by reference.
However, there are problems associated with these and other devices that purport to stabilize yarn on a package during yarn delivery. First, the devices must be put into place after the yarn package has been placed onto the shaft, which takes time and effort, especially when the creel supports hundreds of yarn packages. Secondly, the devices tend to be complex, rather than simple, and repairs may be expensive and time consuming. Thirdly, the devices inhibit easy access to the yarn packages while the devices are in operational position. Additionally, it is difficult, if not impossible, to use these prior devices in conjunction with reserve yarn packages that are tied to the primary yarn package in order to keep the yarn feed moving even when the primary yarn package is exhausted.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus that would stabilize yarn during the delivery process from a yarn package, wherein the apparatus is simple, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to maintain. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide such an apparatus that allows for easy access to the yarn package while the apparatus and yarn package are in operational position. Further, it would be advantageous to provide such a device that could be mounted on a creel one time, and does not have to be removed or repositioned every time a new package of yarn is placed on a creel.